Breathing Race Into the Machine

Breathing Race Into the Machine, Volume 1, examines the complex intersection of medical technology and systemic racism. Lundy Braun traces the history of the spirometer, a tool used to measure lung capacity, from its origins in the antebellum South to modern clinical settings. The text explores how plantation physicians used this device to argue that Black slaves possessed inferior vital capacity compared to white citizens. This historical investigation reveals how scientific instruments can be used to naturalize racial and ethnic differences through biased data and measurement.

This scholarly work analyzes how pulmonary function tests continue to influence medical research and practice today. Braun details the process of race correction, where normal values for African Americans are frequently reduced by 15 percent during clinical diagnoses and disability estimates. By studying the history of the spirometer, the book provides a critical look at how race enters science and shapes the study of lungs and dust diseases. This volume offers a profound look at the social processes behind medical instrumentation.